Last night I hosted one of the guys in my local game group who plays WHFB & 40K but never played LotOW or LotHS in a game of LotHS, here is what he had to say about the game,
I got to play a game of Legends of the High Seas last night and I hav to say, it was quite a blast! Being totally unfamiliar with this style of game, I had no idea what to expect. But I found the rules quite straightforward and intuitive. I was able to get the basics down with some quick explanation. After that, it was right into the action.
Here's basically what I recall of my first pirate adventure:
I was playing a pirate crew of 9 pirates (total cost 195 doubloons) and Tim K was playing 11 Royal Navy crew (total cost 199 doubloons). It was a simple "Clash of Swords" scenario, where we just run up to each other and fight. My crew started on the pier by their ship, while the Royal Navy was out in the rear end of the town. (Tim K) has some great scenery pieces in his collection. So it was by far one of the best tables I've ever played on.)
OK, my pirates had a few rifles, a blunderbus, and the rest some pistols and swords. The Navy had similar, but also had a few spearmen. Each turn you roll for priority to see who goes first. I liked this, since it adds some uncertainty to the game that is lacking in other systems. Well, we both spent a few turns running to take up position in town.
So rather than go blow by blow, I'll summarize. The Navy was coming down the main avenue toward the pier. Mypirate shooters occupied a building along with my melee-only contingent. My blunderbus was ready to step out and fill the street with scattershot. A rifleman hid behind crates at the end of the road, and some of my guys took the opposite side of the street. The Navy did something very simliar, but also sent their captain and a few men to get to the roof of the building I occupied.
After that, there was blackpowder smoke rising from both sides. My blunderbuss jammed on the first shot and was out for the rest of the game. (Though at the time I didn't know that would be it.) When the smoke cleared, a few of the Navy guys were running for cover and one was dead -- shot through the head when he looked out a window!
Soon the main fight in the street took place and the Navy captain and his men reached the rooftop of my building. The Navy captain tangled with my first mate and a crewman, but they could hardly match the Captain. With the support of the Navy captain's men, my two pirates died in the struggle. The fight in the street was an even trade, with both sides each losing a man. After more fighting, my pirates had lost enough men to force them to take courage tests. Well, Pirates don't seem to be exceptionally brave when facing a losing battle. All but two took off running!.
In fact, one of the two was a rifleman. So he took one last shot and wiffed it. After that, the remaining pirates voluntarily routed. The Navy won the day.
But here was the interesting part. We played the end phase like this was to be part of an on-going campaign. So I rolled to see what the actual fates of all my casualties were. In fact, my three dead crewman had all survived. My two mates: one was unscathed and the other received a hideous wound that makes him actually more fearsome looking in combat. But the Navy actually lost all three men that I had inflicted casualties upon. Additionally, the pirates ended up with more gold than the Navy did! So I may have lost the fight but I came out in better shape! Sounds almost like real life sometimes.
So, that's the report. It was great fun and if you're thinking of seeing this game in action on 3/15, I encourage you to come out and do so. I only played one of many different scenarios and only performed the most basic of actions (except maybe climbing, which I did to get my men on the roof of my occupied building). I didn't do any swinging from the rigging, jumping from the crow's nest, or anything too Eryol Flynn. But all those possibilities exist in the game. Also, I learned that there's even rules for naval combat in the book. Woo hoo! I can't wait to see what that's like. While I think you can play this game once in a while and have fun. I think the real pay off will be if you play regularly with a group in campaign style. The hero development aspect is too cool!
So I pressed ganged another player into the ranks of Piratehood! I will try to get the pictures loaded up tonight after I get home from work.
Tim K
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April 26, 2024, 11:38:50 AM
September 16, 2008, 08:02:13 AM
